Sigrid - Sucker Punch

It will usually take a popstar one or two mediocre albums to finally produce something that'll later be described as their peak or their best: Lady GaGa took some tweaking to produce The Fame Monster, Madonna had to wait until True Blue or Like a Prayer, and Beyonce is only now producing her best albums after three or four attempts. Every once in a while, though, someone comes along with a perfectly packaged debut and it's frightening. Is Sigrid our lord and saviour?

This blogger says: maybe. Despite Carly Rae Jepsen's best efforts, pop music has succumbed to the trap machine and become a lifeless, sanguine affair the past five years. Occasional singles have come and brightened the landscape temporarily but dissolved in a sea of Bebe Rexha's Spotify algorithm pop and Anne-Marie's blind, insufferable nostalgia. It falls to 22 year-old Norwegian Sigrid, then, to follow in the footsteps of her region's forebears and save us like Robyn, Annie and ABBA have so many times before. She's already picked up the BBC Sound of 2018 accolade and delivered us a top 10 hit to whet the appetite, but meeting those huge "next big thing" expectations is always challenging even when you've got major record deals and promotion campaigns working in your favour. Just ask

 

'Sucker Punch' opens with its namesake and one of Sigrid's many blasting choruses that underline her appeal: her voice fluctuates perfectly with the meandering melody, and verses are well-intended to hurry to the next chorus like a hit of adrenaline. It's a technique deployed repeatedly on the album: 'Strangers' is her biggest hit to date and it's easy to see why: a rich arpeggio thunders through a triumphant chorus and deadly-precise drum machines. Her lyrics are neither too vague nor too deep: "Going home together to forget we're alone / think we got it but we made up a dream" aptly encapsulates her (and let's face it, our) struggle between isolation and connection, yet refuses to succumb to woe. Which leads me nicely onto current single 'Don't Feel Like Crying', a devastatingly catchy refusal to wallow in post break-up blues. Every drawn-out "oooh" and punchy post-chorus is orchestrated perfectly and the effect is almost chemical.

It'd be foolish to build an album of perfect pop songs, though: there are brief moments of uncertainty and reflection. 'Level Up' is a pretty shallow gaming metaphor for wanting to stick through a relationship to make it stronger (not helped by a snoozy composition), whilst 'Basic' contradicts that somewhat and sees Sigrid wanting to avoid headache: "you make me so complicated/can I be basic with you?" Musically, the answer to that question is a sad yes. There are also a few wincing moments on 'Business Dinners', too, a track designed to stamp Sigrid's refusal to be a corporate puppet or "just... be pictures, numbers, figures". Unfortunately this intention is undermined by the same old drum rills and twee beeping that can be identified too easily on songs by literally any other popstar.

There aren't many negatives to be heard, though: she drops a couple of new bangers ('Mine Right Now', 'Never Mine') in amongst the ones we've already heard ('Don't Kill My Vibe', which I incidentally named my favourite track of 2017 in my hiatus from this blog), but there are also surprises. Her voice takes on surprising strain in piano ballad 'Dynamite' at the album's end, capable of commanding attention in such a gentle way but eventually giving way to this gritty rasp that finishes the record off impressively. That grit is also present and resonant on 'In Vain', a straightforward ballad that suddenly implodes. I really must mention 'Never Mine' outside of an example, though: it's one of those gorgeous rolling, synthesized moments that have saved popstars' careers (Taylor Swift's "Style", Olly Murs' "You Don't Know Love", Will Young's "All the Songs") and defined others'.

My opening paragraph may have perhaps oversold 'Sucker Punch' but it still feels more like an album to cherish and grow on you rather than an immediate sugar rush. It's telling that writers and producers behind the likes of Dua Lipa's New Rules and Troye Sivan's Dance to This are present here; the album feels catered to both those who chase the flavour of the month and those who are pop purists. Perhaps that will be enough of a sin to put off insufferable cynics (just look at the Pitchfork and Guardian reviews), but for those without quite such a sense of entitlement, 'Sucker Punch' is an accomplished and exciting by-product from someone who's already been lighting up pop for a few years.

Rating: 8.5/10
Highlights: Don't Kill My Vibe, Never Mine, Don't Feel Like Crying, Mine Right Now, Strangers
Avoid: Basic, Level Up

For fans of: Gut-punching pop, further proof the Scandinavians are far superior to us, instant uplifts
Coming next: James Blake